CARY, N.C. (February 9, 2010) – Epic Games, Inc. has released the February 2010 UDK Beta, an updated version of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), the free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides uncompromised access to the award-winning game development toolset.

Epic is committed to providing the UDK community with regular software releases at no charge, and the latest beta is available now at www.udk.com/download.

New UDK Features and Tools
• New color picker
o Update in real time, e.g., change color and see level lighting update as you drag!
o Properly deal with HDR colors
o Capture from the entire screen – even your desktop!
o http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/ColorPicker.html
• Screen door fades
o New screen door dissolve effect for fading primitives (SM3+ only)
o Actors can fade in/out based on their MaxDrawDistance
– Static meshes, ProcBuildings, Skeletal Meshes and SpeedTrees are supported
o Static Mesh LODs can and Massive LODs can cross-dissolve between each other
o To enable this feature:
– Set ‘bAllowScreenDoorFade’ to True in [Engine.Engine] .ini file
– Set ‘bUsedWithScreenDoorFade’ on materials that should fade
• New package backup system to prevent lost work due to a crash
• Snap to recovery feature for post process overrides allows you to choose a snap directly to the level pp settings instead of a gradual recovery
• Whole scene dynamic shadow for dominant directional lights around the camera which blends out to precomputed shadows based on distance

UDK Improvements
• Dramatically improved Navigation Mesh simplification
o 50-60% reduction in polygon counts, with corresponding 50-60% reduction in memory footprint
o Faster at runtime due to less nodes to traverse, etc.
o Makeup of mesh is much improved with edges that span obstacle to obstacle and provide more accurate width representation of the geometry
• Matinee improvements
o Multi-select support for Matinee groups and tracks
– Users can now copy and paste many tracks at once in Matinee
– Multiple Matinee groups can now be moved into a folder in a single action
o Curve Editor new feature: Movement axis locking
– Hold down the Shift key before dragging a key to lock to an axis
• Kismet improvements
o Added Kismet “And” gate
– Fires its output once, only after every linked input has fired at least once
o Ctrl + Enter now adds line breaks to Kismet comment boxes
•http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/KismetReference.html
• CameraAnim Improvements
o Greatly improved CameraAnim handling and blending of post-process values
• Static mesh LOD improvements
o Screendoor fade between static mesh LODs for supporting materials based on time
– Static meshes are forced down the dynamic rendering path while transitioning
– Static mesh dynamic rendering path now uses the same LOD heuristic as the static path
– Screendoor fade even works on dynamic shadows from the static mesh
• Necessary to avoid popping due to LODs shadowing each other
o Lightmap resolution is now halved for each static mesh LOD level
• Moving UTGame native code to UDKBase native package
• Volumes, static meshes and triggers now have more apparent collision hull wires

CARY, N.C. (November 5, 2009) – Epic Games, Inc. announces the launch of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), a free edition of Unreal Engine 3 that provides community access to the award-winning toolset like never before. This software release is available to anyone interested in using 3D game engine technology, including game developers, students, hobbyists, researchers, creators of 3D visualizations and simulations, and digital filmmakers. Anyone can start working with the industry-leading Unreal Engine 3 toolset by downloading UDK at www.udk.com, where detailed product features, technical documentation, commercial licensing terms, support resources and more are also available.

An unprecedented milestone in game development, the release of UDK awards free access to the same world-class tools and technology used by many of the world’s best video game developers and publishers. Unreal Engine 3 is a constantly evolving game engine, and UDK contains all the most recently added features and technological enhancements, including many that have yet to be seen in an Unreal Engine game. Furthermore, Epic Games will release ongoing, upgraded builds of UDK for free.

There is no charge for noncommercial or educational use of UDK. Over 100 academic campuses currently use Unreal Technology as part of teaching game development-related courses, and colleges with plans to incorporate UDK into their curricula include the University of Pennsylvania, North Carolina State University, The Art Institute system of schools, Drexel University, Westwood College, DeVry University and Atlantic College, with many others to be announced.

Individuals and companies wishing to develop software for commercial purposes should refer to licensing terms at www.udk.com/licensing. Commercial terms have been structured to make it easy for independent developers, start-up firms and seasoned professionals to use UDK with minimal financial barrier from concept to deployment. UDK is currently for PC use only, although console support is under consideration. Developers approved to make games for Xbox 360® and PLAYSTATION®3 may inquire for more information by emailing udklicensing@epicgames.com.

Benefits of UDK include the following:

• Immediate access to Unreal Engine 3, the critically acclaimed 3D game engine technology for cross-platform game development.
• Easy content creation with the Unreal Editor, a fully integrated suite of top-tier development tools, which comes complete with:
o Unreal Content Browser, a revolutionary tool for browsing, searching and organizing game assets with collaborative metadata tagging system.
o UnrealScript object-oriented programming language and Unreal Kismet, a visual scripting system that enables rapid prototyping on the fly.
o Unreal Matinee, a powerful tool with movie director-class controls for building in-game cinematics and gorgeous cut scenes.
o Unreal Cascade, an advanced particle physics and environmental effects editor that aids the creation of fire, fog, explosions and other visuals.
o NVIDIA® PhysX®-powered physics system with Unreal PhAT visual modeling tool for creating character and object physics rigs.
o Unreal Lightmass, a global illumination system that dramatically lights and shadows with minimal effort required by artists and designers.
o AnimSet Viewer and AnimTree Editor, which give animators precise control over every muscle and bone movement.
• Time saved thanks to technology integrations with leading game development middleware tools including SpeedTree®, Bink Video®, and FaceFX®.
• Output of standalone applications: Games created with UDK run entirely on their own with no additional software required. This means anyone can make UDK content and distribute it for free.

“I’m excited about the possibilities the Unreal Development Kit opens to those who are looking to get into the game business but don’t otherwise have the means to acquire world-class technology and tools like ours,” said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games. “UDK is Unreal Engine 3, which has been used to create games in a wide range of genres, as well as military simulations, 3D architectural walkthroughs, animated movies and more. Users are only limited by their imaginations. Go ahead make something Unreal!”

Psyonix Studios (www.psyonix.com), a game studio based in San Diego, Calif., created the first proof-of-concept game using UDK in less than two months using a two-man team of one artist and one programmer. “Whizzle” is a downloadable vertical scroller in which players swim through underwater levels as an adorable sea creature that collects items and frees allies from captivity. To read more about “Whizzle,” view the developer diary video, or download technical documentation, visit www.udk.com/showcase-whizzle.html.

Until now, noncommercial access to the Unreal Engine 3 toolset has been available only through the PC versions of games such as Epic’s “Unreal Tournament 3” and “Gears of War” games. Users made new game experiences, called modifications or “mods,” by changing existing game assets or creating original content through the Unreal Editor tools that ship with every game copy. Many of these mods have been showcased through the $1 Million Intel Make Something Unreal Contest (www.makesomethingunreal.com), which awards over $1 million in cash and prizes to aspiring game developers. While mods require running the original game for interaction with user-created content, UDK provides a standalone experience every time, meaning a smaller digital footprint and no additional software requirements.

Support for UDK includes over 200 pages of newly unlocked documentation at the Unreal Developer Network (udn.epicgames.com), dedicated forums (www.udk.com/forums), as well as other resources available through the UDK web site, www.udk.com. 3D Buzz also hosts hundreds of free video tutorials for using Unreal Engine 3 technology at www.3dbuzz.com.

About Unreal Engine 3
The award-winning Unreal Engine is known for cutting-edge graphics and its best-of-breed toolset. Unreal Engine 3 maintains those features in addition to multi-core processor support, Xbox 360® and PLAYSTATION®3 optimizations, massive world support, and a highly mature tool pipeline. Unreal Engine 3’s consistently evolving toolset is designed to accelerate developers’ productivity for PC and console games, visualization applications, training simulations, and linear animated content. Additional information on Unreal Engine can be obtained through the Unreal Technology Web site at www.unrealtechnology.com.

About Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., based in Cary, NC and established in 1991, develops cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology. The company has created multiple million-selling, award-winning titles in its “Unreal” series, including “Unreal Tournament 3” for PC, PLAYSTATION®3 and Xbox 360®. Epic’s “Gears of War” won over 30 Game of the Year awards, and the sales of “Gears of War” and “Gears of War 2” have eclipsed 11 million units. Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 is the three-time consecutive winner of Game Developer magazine’s Best Engine Front Line Award and is this year’s Hall of Fame inductee. Unreal Engine 3 has also been recognized as the number one game engine by Develop magazine. Additional information about Epic can be obtained through the Epic Games Web site at www.epicgames.com.